Into the Light: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Thriller (Into the Dark Book 10)

by Ryan Casey

  But then she turned her attention back to the chain around her ankle and made one final pull.

  It was tight. Too tight, perhaps. Didn’t help that her fingers were shaky, that her body was cold.

  And just when it felt like she couldn’t make another move… just when it felt like time was running out… that chain came loose again.

  She yanked at it. Yanked it harder. And then she felt hope building. Desperation surrounding.

  She pulled at it another time, and then she kicked free of it.

  She couldn’t believe it. Not for a moment.

  But then she saw baby Holly drifting by her, and her stomach sank all over again.

  She couldn’t hold her breath much longer.

  Neither of them could.

  She reached down. Went to grab baby Holly.

  But it was too late.

  Baby Holly was too far away.

  She felt that dread building. That pain intensifying.

  And she felt her lungs begging her to do it. To take a breath. To fill those lungs with water.

  But then she reached for baby Holly’s drifting, flailing little arms again, and this time, she got a grip.

  She pulled her up. Pulled her towards her, harder than she probably should have.

  But she didn’t care because she had her now.

  She had her, and they were out of here.

  They had a chance to escape.

  A chance to get away.

  She swam to the surface. Swam as fast as she could. Lungs on the verge of exploding. Brain begging her to inhale, to inhale, to inhale.

  She felt all those urges and impulses taking over her.

  And then she closed her eyes tightly and reached the surface.

  She inhaled the air. Inhaled again. Let it in. Let it take over her. Let it fill her body.

  And by her side, she heard her little baby inhaling, too. Heard her struggle.

  She held her close as they bobbed there in the debris filled water, and she cried. Both of them cried. The buildings they’d been walking alongside so recently destroyed. Barely anything left of the roads.

  But still here.

  Still alive.

  Flames surrounding, but still alive.

  Nobody else in sight… but still alive.

  She swam to the side of the water, and then she clambered out.

  She reached the surface. Put her hands on her knees. Coughed.

  And then she heard something.

  Something that filled her with hope.

  But also filled her with fear.

  She heard a bark.

  She looked up.

  That’s when she saw her.

  Arya Jr.

  She was on the opposite side of the road.

  On the other side of the flames.

  Flames that were rapidly surrounding.

  She took a step forward.

  The ground cracked underfoot.

  Arya Jr continued to stand there.

  Continued to bark.

  “Arya…” she said.

  Arya Jr looked back at her. The flames covering her surroundings. Her path out of there closing. Her chance to escape… disappearing.

  “Arya, quick!”

  She barked again.

  Eyes on her.

  Ears raised.

  Confusion on her face.

  And then she saw the flames surround her completely.

  Heard her barking once more, then again.

  And then the flames totally filled the street, and Arya Jr stopped barking.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Fifteen Hours to Go…

  Kelsie watched the flames surround the area where Arya Jr had been barking, and she felt the tears roll down her cheeks.

  The darkness was beginning to grow. Night was surrounding her. And as she stood there, baby Holly in her arms, drenched in salty seawater, she felt so lost. So lonely.

  Because Arya Jr was her pup.

  She was her dog.

  She was her best friend.

  And now she was gone.

  She didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know what to think. Didn’t know how to react. Because everyone was gone. She’d watched Trev and his friends go up in flames. And Tate… the last she’d seen of him, he’d been the other side of those flames.

  The only thing she knew was that she wasn’t sure she wanted to push on. She wasn’t sure she wanted to keep on going; not anymore.

  Because as the flames filled the street, as the road crumbled, as the airplanes continued to roar overhead, she wasn’t sure she’d leave a world as cruel as this and ever be right again.

  She wiped her tears—another batch of tears that she’d cried not for the first time—and she looked at baby Holly in her arms. Held her close. Their drenched bodies shivering together. And then she looked at this bundle of joy, and she saw Siobhan, and all the past they had, all the past that Arya Jr held between them.

  But even further back than that.

  Arya Jr made her think of Mike.

  She made her think of the early days.

  The days when everything was okay.

  But she was gone now.

  The sooner she accepted it… the sooner she came to terms with it… the better.

  She’d grieve in her own time. She had so much time to grieve and so much to grieve about.

  But not now.

  Not now.

  She turned around and went to keep walking when she heard movement over where Arya Jr had disappeared.

  Someone tumbled out of the flames. Burning. Covered in fire.

  And for a moment, Kelsie thought it was some kind of enemy. Some kind of Outsider closing in on her. Or something worse.

  But then she realised something.

  She realised something that stunned her to silence.

  It was Tate.

  He fell onto his knees. Burning. Covered in flames.

  But he wasn’t alone.

  Wasn’t alone as he kneeled there, shouting, crying out.

  Arya Jr was in his arms.

  She was wagging her tail.

  Energy filled Kelsie’s body. Joy filled her body.

  “Arya,” she said.

  She ran over towards Arya Jr, over towards Tate. Felt bad for Tate in a way that she was showing the forefront of her attention to Arya Jr and not to him.

  But she had a bond with Arya Jr that went back years. So many years.

  She had to be sure she was okay.

  She stroked her. Saw her wagging her tail. A bit of fur burned. A bit dazed.

  But okay.

  Alive.

  She stroked her. Patted her. “It’s okay, girl. It’s okay.”

  And then she turned to Tate.

  She wished she could say the same to Tate. Wished she could say he was in a good state too. Wished he was okay. Despite everything that had happened, every way he’d lied, she wished he was okay.

  But it only took a glance to know that wasn’t the case.

  Tate’s burns were devastating. Right across his body. He looked totally wounded. Totally agonised.

  He looked up at Kelsie the same way he’d looked up at her when that helicopter had crashed.

  She reached for his hand. Took it. He held on to it tightly, shaking.

  “Oh Tate,” she said.

  He was moving his lips. Trying to say something. Trying to explain something, by the looks of things.

  But he didn’t have to.

  There was nothing he could explain.

  He’d saved Arya Jr.

  He’d put himself through hell.

  He’d sacrificed himself for Kelsie’s dog.

  She stroked the parts of his body she knew weren’t burned. Tried to calm him. To soothe him. Tears rolling down her cheeks.

  “I haven't’ known you for long,” she said. “But—but I’ve known you long enough. Long enough to know who you are. To know how strong you are.”

  He shook his head. Like he didn’t believe her. Like he didn’t tota
lly see where she was coming from.

  She leaned close to him. Kissed a part of his cheek that she knew was okay.

  And then she smiled at him.

  “You’re a hero, Tate. If it wasn’t for you… we wouldn’t be here. None of us would be here. I—I forgive you.”

  She saw a sole tear build in the corner of one of his eyes. Saw it drip down his face, stinging his burn wounds on contact.

  And then she saw the way a contented smile crept up his cheeks.

  “Good—good luck,” he said. “Good…”

  His eyes faded.

  The light of his body drifted away.

  Kelsie crouched there.

  Arya Jr by her side.

  Baby Holly in her arms.

  She was alone now.

  Her little family was alone now.

  Alone, with one dark night to go before the lights went out completely.

  She closed Tate’s eyes.

  Then she stood up.

  Took a deep breath.

  “Come on,” she said. “We’ve not got long to go.”

  She took a step and started her final walk.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Twelve Hours to Go…

  Kelsie walked with Arya Jr by her side, baby Holly in her arms, and she knew her journey was coming to an end.

  It was jet black, now. For a summer’s night, it was cold, too. But then that could be for another reason. It could be because she’d been thrown into the sea a few hours ago. It could be the shock that still coursed through her body. The shock of losing everyone.

  Everyone except baby Holly.

  Everyone except Arya Jr.

  She looked at the buildings alongside her. At the sea on the other side. This whole road, the same thing all the way. Rusted, decayed cars. Old hotels that looked like they’d closed their doors a long time before the EMP struck.

  And the sight of the power stations in the distance.

  Heysham.

  She slowed down when she saw them, even though she knew stopping was perhaps the worst idea when she was so exhausted. She felt like she could fall asleep on her feet at any moment.

  But the sight of the power plants triggered something inside her. The realisation that the end of her journey was just ahead.

  But then…

  She didn’t want to think about it. Didn’t want to acknowledge it.

  But there was only so long she could deny it.

  The power plants. Heysham. It didn’t look like there was any activity around it. Any light. Any sounds.

  Maybe Gina had been lying all along.

  She looked over her shoulder. Looked over to where she knew Gina must be. Unless she’d cut ahead of them. Or maybe she’d turned the other way. Maybe she knew of another place where the extractions were occurring.

  Maybe she’d been lying all along and just waiting for a moment to slip from Kelsie and her group’s grip.

  By the way things looked she’d made a good choice in the grand scheme of things.

  Seeing as it were only Kelsie, her baby, and her dog left standing.

  And only barely, too.

  She turned around, though. Because there was no point mulling over things. There was no point kicking herself over what had happened.

  She could only focus on what was ahead.

  And as much as Heysham might end up being a wild goose chase… there was only one way to find out.

  She kept on going. The nerves building with every step. A part of her didn’t even want to get to Heysham because she knew that she’d find a definitive answer there.

  And that definitive answer might not be the one she wanted to hear.

  She looked up at the sky. Thought about those helicopters and planes that had flown over. It didn’t seem like they’d destroyed everywhere. A few exploded buildings here and there.

  Which made her wonder something else, too.

  Had she been targeted?

  Did they have eyes on her group and specifically fire those missiles at her?

  Whatever the case… it didn’t provide her with the answers she needed.

  She walked further, then. Saw the sign—“Welcome to Heysham.” She saw the cottages up ahead. The old corroded village pub.

  And then further in the distance… the power stations.

  Kelsie felt her stomach turn when she saw them. Because that had to be the place. Heysham was a small coastal village. There wasn’t anything else here, not really. She remembered when she used to be on camping holidays over at Silverdale as a kid, looking out to sea and at those power stations in the distance.

  She never visited. Not when she was younger. This was the first time.

  She felt those early years returning. Dad holding her up, lifting her into the air to look out at what was ahead.

  And then she felt her tension growing again.

  The silence.

  The distance.

  The underlying sense that there was an absence about this place, just like everywhere else.

  She took a deep breath as she crept through the streets. Saw Arya Jr by her side, sniffing at the ground. She tried to see hope in those actions. Tried to see optimism in them.

  But maybe she was just looking into things too much.

  Maybe she wasn’t on the scent of anyone at all.

  She walked further through the village. Constantly on edge. Permanently on guard. Looking. Listening. Trying to convince herself she was hearing things. Hearing signs of life. Signs of hope.

  And then she stopped when she reached the entrance to the power station and held her breath.

  She stepped inside. Walked through its remains. She saw old jackets that had been hung up after days at work, never to be touched again. She saw the dust everywhere. The natural world getting a grip on this place, too. Working its way inside, engulfing it.

  She walked further through it. Walked around the outside. Broke inside. Searched it. Searched everywhere.

  And when she was done, she stepped out of that power station.

  She walked a little further, then. Walked alongside the sea. Walked right until she reached a sign.

  The sign that read “Thank you for visiting Heysham!”

  She felt her stomach sink as she looked back at the power station.

  As she looked back at Heysham.

  As she looked back at that source of hope that people had died trying to get to.

  That place that held their last chance of any form of optimism.

  The place that Gina had told her about—and clearly betrayed her about, once and for all.

  Because there was nothing in Heysham.

  Heysham was a ghost town.

  There was no extraction point.

  There was no sign of life.

  There was no sign that anyone had been here for a long, long time.

  She took a deep breath as baby Holly wriggled in her arms, and she felt a tear roll down her cheek.

  There was no getting away from this place.

  There was no way out.

  Her last chance of hope was gone.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Nine Hours to Go…

  Kelsie sat at the edge of the water and listened to the waves crashing against the rocks.

  It was night. She’d been sitting here for a while now. Sitting here, just waiting, and just letting time pass by. She tried not to think too much about what was ahead. Tried not to lose herself in the inevitability of what was approaching. Every time her thoughts wandered, she brought herself back to the sound of the waves, to the beauty of the natural world around her.

  And how it was all going to disappear in a matter of hours.

  Baby Holly was crying in her arms. She looked down at her. Stroked her little furry head. Looked into those little defenceless eyes. At that tiny mouth, those tiny fingers, that tiny body. She wanted to do so much for her. She wanted to help her. To make her safe.

  She wanted so much.

  But at the end of the day, she was limited
.

  Because everything had fallen apart.

  So quickly, everything had fallen apart.

  And now here she was.

  She cuddled baby Holly close. Because at the end of the day, it was all she could do. There weren’t really many other options but to make sure she was comfortable. That they were both comfortable.

  Because the more time went on, the more Kelsie was starting to weaken.

  She was fully aware that she was sick. Her diabetes was slowly killing her. She’d gone far too long without insulin. And while this illness was always a risk in her life, she’d never really faced up to the fact until now. Because her home, it seemed safe. It seemed like it wasn’t going anywhere. It seemed permanent.

  If there was any mistake she’d made, it was believing in the permanence of her home.

  Because nothing was permanent.

  Everything was impermanent.

  Everything.

  She looked at Arya Jr, then. Saw the way she was laying there on her belly, ears raised, staring out to sea. Her tail wagged every now and then. But she seemed down, too. Like she sensed something was coming. That everything was ending soon.

  She thought about Gina’s lie about Heysham. She could never pretend to understand where she was coming from. Why she’d done what she’d done. Revenge, she had to assume.

  But it added another layer to her thoughts, too. Maybe there wasn’t a destructive wave set to engulf the country after all. Maybe it was just going to happen in occasional stages like she’d already seen.

  But even if that was the case…

  What was she going to do?

  What hope did she have?

  She was alone with a dog and a baby, and as far as she could tell, she was going to die of her illness.

  There would be no easily acquired diabetics supplies anymore. And there would be no way of figuring out how to produce the kind of concoction the scientists at Wright Green had developed, either.

  She only had one choice.

  Wait here.

  Hope she could stay alive long enough so she was with baby Holly when the devastating moment came.

  And then hold her breath as everything fell to pieces.

  It was strange, in a way. Because she didn’t feel sad anymore. She’d accepted what was coming, what was awaiting her in a matter of hours.